Before the Sun Sets
by Towairaito
Summary: ON HIATUS All chapters have been moved into one section, still unfinished.


Disclaimers: The characters in this story are borrowed from the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi. I don't own them, she does! I'm sorry if the most are the characters are OOC, this is my first fanfic so please be easy on me! Any C&C are welcome! 

Warnings: This is going to be a lemon, m/f fanfic so if you are queasy and grossed out by this stuff please leave. Thank you.

Eien no Hikari

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"RANMA NO BAKA!"

Flying through the air, Ranma soared over a forest of trees listening to the echoes of Akane's favorite line. He had done it again; he had looked at it, sweat dropped, and complained about Akane's cooking even before tasting it. That was a bad idea.

"All I did was say that her food looked better then the last time," he muttered under his breath as he flew endlessly in the bright blue sky. "LAST time her cooking wanted to choke me to death!" Ranma sighed as his trip was coming to an end, and turned his head to see where he was going to land.

Below him, a rushing river came into view, "Great just my luck.First the food and now this!" Ranma crossed his arms over his chest as he sighed one more time before splashing into the water.

_C-c-cold!!!_ Ranma sank to the river bottom. He felt his curse taking effect, and he opened his eyes; he turned to a girl again. Ranma, not wanting to suffocate under water, swam to the surface of the river, gasping for breath. Man, this is one deep river...

Looking around, Ranma saw that she was nowhere near the campsite, and grinned. "Finally I can have some quality time to myself." She said as she swam to the riverbank. Picking herself up, Ranma gazed at her new surroundings. Trails were leading into and coming out of the forest, most of them run down from the times they were repeatedly used. Small animals were everywhere, curiously looking at the strange redheaded creature that invaded their home, and decided to be on alert if it attacked. Ranma paid no heed of their attention as tall redwood trees loomed over her head as she glanced up for a place to perch herself onto to rest.

Sooner than expected, Ranma found a branch on one of the trees to be a perfect spot. Smiling to herself and crouching, Ranma jumped onto the high, narrow branch. Keeping her balance on the limb, Ranma looked out onto the valley where the sun was getting ready to set into the horizon. Ranma carefully walked backwards to the large tree trunk that held the branch and sat down still gazing at the beautiful scenery in front of her. She was still soaked with water but didn't give it any thought whatsoever, all there was to do right now was to think. Her eyes grew distant and bright as she remembered short blissful memories of the past, but turned intensely cold as she remembered how her life completely went upside down after the trip to Jusenkyo. Like I ever had any. Ranma snorted, this is all Pop's fault for pushing me into this camping trip with Akane and the others. Ranma thought about the time, 10 days ago, when both Akane and her were coming home from school in the rain. Ranma winced as she remembered that Akane went to her 'This is all your fault, Ranma!' mode and went on further into her memory. They were still bickering when they got home, and Ranma's father announced that they were to go on another camping trip.

_Flashback -_

_"That's great, Pop! When to we leave?!" Ranma said, eager to leave all the chaos behind. However, her happiness was cut short when Pop said take he wasn't going and Ranma had to take Akane with him. With that, his two other fiancées burst through the door exclaiming that they were to come along too saying, "Ranma might get hurt by that stupid tomboy." Before anything else got any more violent between the three, Ranma ran out of the room to take a warm bath. After he change and went back to his regular form, all three of his fiancées tagged along behind him carrying their belongings as they trudged down the sidewalk, leaving and saying their goodbyes._

_Not long after they left Nermia, Mousse showed up, "Ranma! How dare you take my Shampoo away from me! DIE!" Mousse jumped at Ranma, and brought his hand back to strike him on the face with one of his hidden weapons. Fortunately, Ranma already knew what he was going to do. In one swift motion, Ranma ducked and did a roundhouse kick at Mousse's feet, tripping him. Seeing another opening, Ranma punched Mousse onto his chest and twisted his body and side kicked Mousse in the stomach, sending him to the nearest river. In Mousse's place, a duck struggled its way to the surface of the river, clothes nearby._

_"Ayia! Shampoo so happy Ranma beat stupid Mousse! Airin care about Shampoo! We marry, yes? Shampoo make better wife than stupid tomboy Akane!" Shampoo happily glomped onto Ranma, squeezing him for all he's worth. Ranma, on the other hand, had other things on his mind, Ohmygodohmygodohmgod! Akane'sgonnakillmeshe'sgonnakillme!!!!!!!_

_Akane immediately lost her temper as she saw Shampoo fiercely hugging and trying to kiss a scared Ranma. With anger on her mind, Akane took her mallet out from nowhere and swung it like a baseball bat at Ranma intending to send him to the ozone layer. "RANMA NO BAKA!"_

_Shampoo jumped away from Ranma just in time to see a rather large wooden mallet connecting to Ranma's head. She glared at Akane and opened her mouth to speak but Ukyo beaten her to it first, "Y'know sugar, you shouldn't've done that." Ukyo said. Akane stared blankly at her as her anger dissipated. She sighed and tried again, "Ranchan has the supplies."_

_Akane gasped as she realized her mistake. Turning on her heel, Akane ran towards the direction where she batted him. Ukyo and Shampoo trailed behind. But as usual, once they caught up to the half-boy/half-girl, chaos reigned with spatulas, bonboris, hammers, and food._

_And since then, it was the same thing over and over again for the past 10 days._

_End Flashback -_

Ranma was sitting quite content and yet cold from the wind. Unfortunately, she was practically shivering from the cold and sneezed as the wind started to pick up. _Damn it, now I caught a cold!_ She sneezed again. This is not my day. Ranma rested her cold cheek upon the palm of her hand with her elbow on her lap. A bored expression rested upon the cold girl's face until she remembered that the backpack she had earlier, held a blanket inside until the backpack flew out of her grasp during her flight towards the river.

A smile spread across Ranma's face, "If I can find that pack, I can at least get warm." Her stomach growled," not to mention something to eat, too." With that, Ranma jumped down from her perch on the tree and started in her search for the backpack.

He had long ago given up on using maps and compasses to get back home. They always seemed to take him into the wrong direction every time he took a turn. So Ryoga stopped and asked a man for directions. "Excuse me sir, can you please direct me to Furinkan High School?"

A farmer who was tending his garden turned around from his work and looked quizzically at the boy who wielded a heavy-looking bamboo umbrella. "Well, I don't know." The man scratched his head after he took off his straw hat, "Depends on what city it's in, I guess."

"Oh yeah, sorry. It's in Nerima, Japan." The youth slightly smiled, he was stressed from walking for 2 months now. He was desperate to get home.

The farmer thought the boy seemed oddly familiar...Ah, yes, he had heard of this boy from his neighbors.A young man was always lost. By the rumors he had heard, the boy always went the opposite direction to where he was directed, which, the farmer found, was quite odd. He put his hat back on and pointed west, "Well, in that case, you should go that way."

The boy happily thanked him and walked...east.

It wasn't long before the settings around him turned from long winding dirt trails and dry fields to a green lush forest with humongous redwood trees that loomed over his head. The sky above him was bright and clear. Clouds were scattered here and there as if a painter decided to add color to the sky. The sun was brightly shining basking Ryoga in its warm glow of light. Perspiration was matted against his forehead as Ryoga trudged on towards his destination.

For 2 months he was on the road to nowhere till now. For quite some time he was losing hope that he would be forever lost in the world. Thank goodness he asked for directions. _Although, I doubt I'm going the right direction._ Ryoga sighed, _It's not like someone's waiting for me in Nerima._

Every time he ended up in Nerima, everyone seemed to forget that Ryoga was there. It was always Ranma-this and Ranma-that they were after: a hand in marriage or revenge. Ryoga realized that it was stupid to pin Ranma for his own stupid mistakes. So Ryoga stopped chasing and Ranma stopped taunting. With all their differences put aside, the two became close. They both had talk about their views about people, especially about Akane and Ranma's other fiancée's. Both of them agreed that Shampoo was meant for Mousse, Ukyo had that cross-dresser, and Akane.. Well, the boys decided she was neither meant for them. The girls were really nice when you put aside their obsessions and anger, but none of them were what the boys were looking for.

Everyone seemed oblivious to Ranma and Ryoga's behavior towards one another. Other than that, no one seemed to take a hint that Ranma wasn't interested in getting married. Ryoga shook his headat the thought.But on the other hand, the boys liked having each other for company. They talked the most of the day, sparred, and hung out together whenever neither one was being chased by someone. But unfortunately, to be able to spend time with his friend, he was suppose to be there. and Ryoga was lost...really lost.

It seemed like a millennium until Ryoga found himself in a small clearing. It was used plenty times before, judging by the way the twigs were cracked and the ground was flat and dusty. Ryoga frown and stared up at the sky. "I guess this will have to do for tonight." And with that, the teenager set up for camp.

It only took a while to get everything in place, but only one thing was missing...firewood. Ryoga cursed under his breath. If he were to leave camp to search for wood, he would probably get lost as usual. But Ryoga thought otherwise, there was a long coiled rope in his pack that he had unknowingly placed in his bag until he discovered it days ago while looking through his pack for a blanket.

Ryoga took the rope out and tied one end to a nearby redwood tree. When he was sure the knot was tight enough, the boy nodded in satisfaction and wandered out of his campsite in search wood, with the rope trailing of behind him as a guide back to the camp.

"I know it must be around here somewhere!" An exasperated girl said, looking inside a bush three times the size of her. "I saw it land in here." Ranma shoved branches, twigs, and leaves out of her way as she frantically searched for the backpack.

The young redheaded girl was becoming restless of the useless search. For moreover two hours, she had been looking and looking for the damned backpack, but it was nowhere to be seen. Sighing, Ranma reluctantly sat down cross-legged beside the bush she had rummaged through before.

"This is stupid." She let out a tired moan, leaning her head on the palm of hand. Her mood only worsened when birds suddenly flew overhead where the tall redwoods reached their limits, and the flyers sang wordless tunes in sync of the beating their wings. _This is NOT my day_. She stared at the birds flying and suddenly noticed the sky was turning a shade of pink. The sun was going to set. Which meant that it was almost nightfall.and that meant she had to find the backpack sooner or later or else she'll freeze to death in the harsh cold.

A sneeze escaped her lips and confirmed her condition. _I can't see how Ryoga can stand these conditions._ She was cold and still damp from the water. Dirt clung to her knees and elbows from when she was up and about looking for her pack; even her hair had leaves sticking to it. Another sneeze, and finally Ranma stood up and once again started searching for her backpack in haste.

"AHA! I found it!" Ranma cheered. Ranma tried grabbing the backpack, but it was just out of reach since it was wedged between two thick trunks of the bushes. "Damnit, reach!" She stretched her body toward the pack, and inch by aching inch, Ranma's hand slowly descended upon the beige bag. Curving her fingers around one of the straps, she was about to pull the backpack free until a faint sound reached her ears.

With caution, she let go of the strap of the bag and stood up. She scanned the area. Nothing seems unusual, 'cept that yellow and black piece of cloth going behind the tree. Wha? Ranma did a double take and found that the cloth looked familiar.

"Ryoga!" Ranma tried to get his attention. She waved at the lost boy as he whipped his head around the tree to look at Ranma. His face brightened and smiled, "Hey, Ranma! What are you doing here in China?"

Ranma quirked a smile, "China? Ryoga, we're in a forest about a fewthousand miles from Nerima."

The boy nodded, "Okay. But, what are you doing here anyways? A training trip?"

"Sorta. I was on a trip with Akane.the others came along." Ranma gestured with her hand.

Ryoga's gaze turned questioning and looked around. "You mean everyone or your fiancées?"

The girl's facial expression was odd to Ryoga, he assumed something happened upon the trip to make Ranma look so...sad, or was it weariness? He couldn't tell. "Ryoga," she began, "I - her food. She cooked again, one thing led to another - with three fiancées and all - and I got in the middle of it. I tried being nice for once and everyone twisted my words - Akane took it the wrong way and she hit me." She rubbed her head where she was hit to emphasize her explanation.

He shifted around, uncomfortable with the awkward silence that followed. He looked around, "Ah...Hey, Ranma, my camp's just around here and it's getting dark. We can stay there till morning."

"Sure." The petite girl stood and was about to lead him back to his camp when the rope around Ryoga's waist caught her eye. "What's that?"

Ryoga looked down, "Oh this?" He held the extending rope. "It leads me back to the camp."

Ranma's eyes followed the trail of rope that lead out of the clearing into the forest. She took a closer looked and saw the trail weaving it's way through the forest floor. The rope took twists and turns, sometimes crossing over bushes. "Looks like you went to Okinawa and back, Ryoga."

The fanged-boy smirked. "Yeah, I guess." He turned around, "Let's go."

"Ah, Ryoga? It's THAT way." Ranma pointed to the trail of rope.

"Oh yeah." Ryoga let out an embarrassed chuckle. A hand was held out at him. He looked to the owner with bright blue eyes and a smiling face. The bandana-boy took it reluctantly and slightly smiled back.

"NOW let's go." Ranma's red hair swished while she turned to pull Ryoga with her as she followed the long trail of rope back to Ryoga's camp. The backpack was still wedged between the bushes, forgotten.

It didn't take forever to get to the camp as Ranma led the way. There was a minor setback though. Along the way, Ranma reluctantly let go of Ryoga's hand, believing that the boy was smart enough to get a clue to follow her. Not long after, Ryoga's footsteps were faintly heard behind the redhead. She turned around and cursed as she saw her misplaced companion wandering aimlessly deeper into the dark depths of the old Redwood forest.

Grabbing his hand, Ranma kept Ryoga by her side. Time to time, Ryoga veered a little off course; Ranma, of course, kept her eyes on him and pulled him to her side every time Ryoga strayed. But thankfully they reached Ryoga's campsite with the help of the rope that was tied to the tree. Ranma let go of Ryoga's hand, noticing the loss of warmth between her fingers as she sat down to rest.

For one thing, they had followed the trail of rope back to the camp and somehow they wound up in Alaska then past by someplace called Santa Cruz beach where they stopped by for ice cream. Another few twists and turns led them through someone's house and through the vast fields of Australia where they found huge jumping mice that were actually called "kangaroos". Now, at least, they were back in the forest. Thankfully, away from everyone they knew. It was more quiet and peaceful here than with all those fiancées and rivals.

Ranma looked at Ryoga's direction as he untied himself from the large redwood tree, fumbling with the knots and loops. Getting up, Ranma swatted Ryoga's hands away from the rope, "Here, lemme try."

"Fine." Ryoga stepped back. Within a few moments, Ryoga was free and the winded rope was tossed in his direction. He looked up as Ranma spoke, "You should keep that. That thing's a lot more helpful than that compass of yours."

Ryoga nodded. No use in complaining; it was true anyways. "Want dinner?"

"Sure. But you sit down. I'll make it."

"Are you the housewife for once, Ranma?" It was only a teasing comment, but it bugged Ranma to no end. She replied, "For your information, I happen to know how to cook. I"m not cooking to be the Winner of a Matial artshousewife Competition." With that, Ranma went to work on Ryoga's makeshift stove as Eyoga grinned from ear to ear.

Secret cooking sessions with Kasumi had helped Ranma a lot. Ranma always had to survive on his own since his father had always done something stupid to get food. Genma had sold Ranma plenty of times to people as a slave or as a fiancé. Then after a couple of weeks Genma would always steal Ranma away in search of a new victim with food. This gender-switching teenager wouldn't allow it. So to make up for all those times, Ranma learned how to cook and fend for herself with Kasumi's help. Ranma didn't want to become like her father.

Delicious aromas filled the air as food sizzled and popped in the heat of the fire. With limited ingredients, Ranma managed to cook up some ramen, fried rice, and dumplings. It wasn't much, but it was filling nonetheless.

Ryoga attentively looked at the food on his plate. Ranma looked peeved, "It's not like it's gonna bite, Ryoga. These are Kasumi's recipes."

Glancing up at the redhead then down at the food, Ryoga took a bite out of the ramen. His face lit up, "Hey! This is good!"

Ranma grinned to cover up her growing blush, "I learned how to cook from Kasumi. It's not as good as her food, but it'll do."

The lost boy nodded, oblivious of the reddening cheeks on Ranma, "Okay."

Taking up her own plate, Ranma chewed her food slowly. She now had gotten rid of her old habit with her pop. It wasn't like he was ever going to beat her at anything. So why bother with those everyday duels at breakfast? She can just take one flick of her wrist and launch him right into orbit.or at least into the pond. Both the martial artists ate in a comfortable silence. Dinner was soon over and both teens decided to lie underneath the sky of the approaching night. A small conversation ensued.

"So how's everyone in Nerima?" It was Ryoga.

Ranma turned her head to look at him and shrugged, "The same. They're always tryin' to go after me." She turned her head again facing the sky; she lazily counted clouds that passed by while waiting for Ryoga to reply.

He nodded in assent and looked at Ranma. He did a double take, "Hey, your still a girl. Don't you want to change back?"

Ranma shrugged again, "I don't care anymore. It's not like I really need to anyway; I always wind up in some pond, lake, pool, whatever. You know what I mean."

The boy nodded, "I see what you mean. On my part, I wouldn't care less. But I turn into a pig.People eat pigs."

Ranma's nose scrunched at that. _Ouch, I forgot about that._ She turned onto her stomach and bent her knees causing her feet to wave in the air. "Well, at least you get to go places. I can't do much in Nerima. I don't get to have my own choices. I can't go anywhere either since I got to 'fulfill my honor.'" Her hand gesture emphasized her meaning, "You know I hate it. I just wish I could live another life."

Ryoga sighed, "I know, Ranma, but I don't 'get to go places'.it's more like I don't have a choice with my sense of direction." He put a hand to brush his hair back from his eyes, "Besides, you have to be glad with what you've got."

The young redhead smirked, "Always the optimistic one, aren't you Ryoga?"

It was Ryoga's turn to shrug, "You realize a lot of stuff when you're always on the road." He looked up at the sky as the sun barely touched the horizon. Then he looked at Ranma who was looking intently at him. Her blue eyes sparkled with a hint of laughter and amazement and her lips were pursed into a small shy smile. The sunlight reflected off her hair and face, giving her an unreal look...She was the protector of the weak, a fiery martial artist, and a person who took up any challenge and never backed down. _She's not fragile for one thing but she's doesn't exactly have any feminine modesty, but she's a wonderful person to be around.._.Ryoga's head was in a whirl. But Ranma's a guy, right? Ryoga thought long a hard. His mind hit home as he met the redhead's eyes. Who cares if she was a guy, she was beautiful and.he loved her. "Ranma?"

"Yeah?" Ranma on the other hand felt lightheaded and giddy. Yin and Yang fought for dominance. Her mind was confused; _I'm not supposed to feel this way.am I? Do I really want to stay in a life with daily fights and danger? _a stray thoughtpushed through her mind, _he's so handsome.._.She kicked herself mentally as her realized was she was thinking, _Ranma, you idiot! You're being a pervert!_ She chided herself as she cast her eyes down to her hands. Her nails seemed pretty interesting.well, just about anything did besides what she had thought. Her more feminine side spoke, _just look at him, you know you like the guy. _Truth be told, Ryoga was the most caring guy she ever knew. He was loyal, honest - well, not too honest. But let's forget about that P-chan thing - and Ryoga was also a sensitive guy if you look beneath the challenging, short-tempered personality. _Well, he's not really the greatest guy in the world but I think-..._Ranma stopped short.

Was she really willing to say that she was in love with him? Memories seemed to appear of previous encounters with Ryoga. Most of them were fighting scenes and arguments, but on the other hand, there were also times where they stuck up for one another in worst cases. They kept each other in check. They were a duo fighting pair, perfect in every way.

When her eyes met his, time seemed to slow down. All they saw was each other.nothing more nothing less.

Ryoga sat up. "Can I." His sentence left unfinished. He lifted his hand to her face, he couldn't trust his voice to speak.

Ranma slightly jerked backwards, unused to the warmth at her cheek. Ryoga's palm reached for the curve of her cheekbone. Ranma trembled at the touch, heat raised to her cheeks, it seemed so unreal. _I'm a guy! I'm a guy! I'm_ ... Ryoga's other hand slipped around to her back and massaged her tense muscles. Her eyes drooped and leaned into Ryoga's comforting embrace. Thoughts of fiancées and foes that were fought, challenges, and the need to fulfill her honor erased from her mind, _I'm in love...._


End file.
